Latest Transfer Update at 14-05-2012

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Latest Transfer Update at 14-05-2012

Adebayor: 17 Premier League goals this season

REDKNAPP WANTS ADEBAYOR

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has reiterated his desire to keep on-loan Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor at White Hart Lane, but admitted wages remained a stumbling block.
The Togo international netted his 17th Barclays Premier League goal of the campaign on Sunday as Spurs beat Fulham 2-0 to secure fourth place.


Redknapp stressed his wish for Adebayor to stay after the game, but accepted finances may prove a problem.
"He was only a loan and his loan is up," the 65-year-old said. "It is up to the chairman if we could loan him again. I would like to keep him, obviously. He has done great for us.
"But I don't know. We don't pay them wages - the only way we could do a deal was if the chairman did a clever deal like he did this year for him."


Adebayor joined City from Tottenham's local rivals Arsenal in 2009 but soon fell out of favour after a promising start at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite still being registered to the new Premier League champions, Redknapp is sure Adebayor would be available.
"They don't want him. They don't want to see him ever again, if we are being honest," he said. "They want him out of the way and that is why they let him go."


Spurs' fourth-placed finish would normally guarantee a place in the Champions League qualifying play-off, but Chelsea will snatch that spot away from Spurs if they can beat Bayern Munich in the final of this year's competition on Saturday.
Although he faces an anxious wait over the club's European place, Redknapp hailed the campaign as a success.
He said: "We can't do any more - win [against Fulham] and finish fourth.


"At the start of the season we wanted fourth position and I couldn't be more pleased with what the players have done here this year and nor should anyone else.
"If people start getting carried away with what Tottenham should be doing they need a reality check."

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Alex McLeish: Still thinks he's the man for the job

McLEISH SET FOR VILLA TALKS

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish will hold talks with club owner Randy Lerner in the next 24 hours which will decide whether he will pay the price for a season of underachievement, it is understood.
Lerner will fly in from the United States to speak with McLeish along with chief executive Paul Faulkner in the aftermath of Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Norwich, which was described as "woeful" by the manager.


Sections of fans again called for the former Birmingham boss to be axed as Villa ended the campaign just two points clear of the bottom three.
McLeish has had to contend with slashing the wage bill, which he described as "astronomical", and has been deprived of several key players through injury or illness.
The likes of record signing Darren Bent, key defender Richard Dunne and skipper Stiliyan Petrov have been sidelined for lengthy spells and McLeish has had to put the accent on youth.

McLeish always stressed it would be a season of transition after replacing Gerard Houllier last summer, but it was still a surprise that Villa only made sure of survival last weekend.
Their tally of 38 points in finishing 16th is actually one less than when McLeish was relegated with Birmingham last campaign.
Villa have also encountered their worst season in their history in terms of their home record in registering just four wins.
McLeish insisted after the 2-0 defeat at Carrow Road he was still the right man for the job and was aiming to rebuild the side.
But his future now depends on whether Lerner decides it is time to search for a fourth manager in less than two years or takes into account the difficult conditions McLeish has worked under.


Martin O'Neill quit in the summer of 2010 and Houllier had to leave Villa last summer on health grounds, which led to McLeish's controversial appointment after leaving Blues.

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Ian Crook: New man at the helm in Sydney

CROOK NAMED SYDNEY FC BOSS


Sydney FC have appointed former Norwich midfielder Ian Crook as their new head coach on a two-year deal.
The Sky Blues announced on Monday that the 49-year-old Englishman - a former youth-team boss at the club - will take over the first-team reins from Vitezslav Lavicka, who departed at the end of the A-League season.
"Sydney FC is pleased to announce Ian Crook as the Sydney FC head coach for the next two seasons," chairman Scott Barlow said on the club's website.


"His passion for Sydney FC runs deep, he has an impressive coaching and football knowledge and he is familiar with the club and what we are trying to achieve."
Crook served as inaugural coach Pierre Littbarski's assistant when Sydney claimed the first of their two A-League championships in 2005/06.
He said: "I'm thrilled and honoured to be named as head coach of Sydney FC.
"This club is very special to me after being part of its birth and early success and since returning to Australia I have enjoyed working with the younger players.


"Over the last few months the competitive urge has been re-ignited inside me and, after spending the last two seasons nurturing and developing young players, the time is right for me to step back into a head coach role."

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Lee McCulloch: Looking to keep squad together

McCULLOCH IN PLEA TO NEW OWNER

Lee McCulloch has urged prospective new Rangers owner Charles Green to keep the current squad together after coming through one of the toughest season's in the club's history.
Administrators confirmed on Sunday morning they had accepted an offer from a consortium fronted by the former Sheffield United chief executive for the purchase of the club.
McCulloch revealed Green spoke to players briefly ahead of their final Clydesdale Bank Premier League game of the season at St Johnstone, which Rangers won 4-0.


He said: "Charles Green came into the dressing room for two minutes before the game and introduced himself but that was about it.
"He left and let the gaffer do his talk but he seems really positive.
"He didn't say much more about his plans, he literally came in for a minute and said we'll see what happens over the next couple of days and weeks.
"The big thing is hopefully keeping the squad together. That's most important. We don't want anyone to go.
"Some of the feelings we've had in the dressing room this season haven't been nice and coming through it has made us a lot stronger.
"Time will tell if we can keep the dressing room together but right now it's all about next season.
"If we can get through this then I think the club will definitely come back stronger."


Ally McCoist is hopeful he will remain under the new regime following what has been a turbulent debut season as boss.
McCulloch said: "The manager has been superb this season.
"Everyone forgets this has been his first season as his own man and I think even a manager with all the experience in the world would have struggled to deal with some of the things he's gone through.
"That's a credit to him, Kenny McDowall and Ian Durrant."
McCulloch grabbed an impressive opener against Saints before Sone Aluko claimed a hat-trick.
And he does not believe he has now played his last game for Rangers.


McCulloch said: "I can only speak for myself, and certainly returning for pre-season is all that's on my mind.
"I'll go and try and enjoy the summer and come back in and use the feelings and frustrations of this season to try and win a trophy next season."

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Koscielny's goal ensured Arsenal finished third

WENGER PLANNING VAN PERSIE TALKS

Arsene Wenger hopes Arsenal's achievement of clinching Champions League football for a 15th successive season can help the club keep star striker Robin van Persie.
Arsenal's 3-2 win over West Brom at West Brom ensured they finished above north London rivals Tottenham on Sunday, taking third spot in the Barclays Premier League.
The success represents a major turnaround in fortunes for Arsenal who were in 17th place in October after losing four of their opening seven games, with some fans calling for Wenger to be sacked.


Van Persie ended the season with 30 league goals as Yossi Benayoun, Andre Santos and Laurent Koscielny netted against the Baggies.
Wenger said: "Will Champions League football help to keep Van Persie? It makes it easier to attract good players and keep them.
"The intention is to speak with him before he leaves for the Dutch camp (for Euro 2012)."
Wenger added: "I'm proud of the season. The mental solidity, the unity and solidarity inside the club has been tested. We didn't show any weakness and kept united.
"In the end, we came back. It's a good lesson for everyone. I told everyone to keep doing what they are doing and in the end we got there.
"I cannot say the season has been a failure. We have qualified for the 15th time. Only three clubs have done that in Europe. That means it's not as easy as it looks.
"We were 17th in the league and in the first seven games we had lost four of them. When you have played seven games, there are 31 to go. It's very difficult to imagine you can finish third.


"But we have had an exceptional run after our Champions League exit.
"I think if you look at the season as a whole in the last 16 games, we have lost only twice. We have created a fantastic run. In the end we finished with 70 points. That is respectable."
New England manager Roy Hodgson paid tribute to the West Brom fans after the final whistle as his reign at the Hawthorns came to an end.
Hodgson said: "This is a fantastic football club with a great tradition and even in the rough times, I felt the fans were behind us.
"You deserve another year in the Premier League and I would like to thank all the staff and players for their support during this past 15 months."


West Brom assistant boss Keith Downing backed goalkeeper Marton Fulop who replaced the injured Ben Foster and was to blame for all three Arsenal goals.
Downing said: "Ben had a slight issue with his groin and in Marton's defence he was called on late.
"He is devastated. He is a genuine guy. We had no reservations about playing him.
"He has been a great support to Ben. We are disappointed for Marton, he sets high standards and he knows one or two of the goals were down to him."
Shane Long and Graham Dorrans netted for West Brom after Benayoun's opener but Fulop's blunders enabled the Gunners to recover.

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Kenny Dalglish: Rejects exit talk

DALGLISH DEFIANT AFTER SWANS DEFEAT

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish responded angrily to suggestions he may not be in charge next season after his side's disappointing Barclays Premier League campaign ended with a 1-0 defeat at Swansea.
Reports in some Sunday newspapers had suggested that Dalglish would leave the manager's position during the summer, with Wigan boss Roberto Martinez being tipped as the man to replace him.
After watching Danny Graham's 100th career goal condemn them to an eighth-placed finish, Dalglish was asked if he expected to be in the Anfield hot seat next season.


He replied: "I expect the owners to have more dignity and integrity than to believe a story in a newspaper."
The visitors were outplayed during the first half but posed a greater threat after the break, with Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm making one stunning save to keep out Andy Carroll's acrobatic overhead kick and then making a low stop to deny the £35million striker.
And Dalglish felt his side had deserved at least a point, but acknowledged their campaign, which ended with Liverpool below local rivals Everton for the first time since 2005, had not been good enough.
"I think on the second-half performance, the least they deserved was a point," he said.
"We've got to keep believing and in credit to the players they have kept believing.


"The passing and moving at times has been excellent and the goalkeeper's save to stop Andy was fantastic. We just have to keep going and maybe next year the luck will change for us.
"We won't run away from the points tally or hide or say the points tally is satisfactory to anyone who works for or supports Liverpool Football Club. We will face up to reality. The performances have been excellent in a lot of cases but not the points tally, so we will try our best to correct that."
The Reds were without captain Steven Gerrard after he failed to sufficiently recover from a back problem.
But Dalglish is confident the midfielder will be fit to be part of England manager Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad.
He said: "It's not my concern, but I wouldn't think he'll be a problem."


For Swansea the result capped a fantastic debut season in the Barclays Premier League, which has also seen them claim memorable wins over Arsenal and champions Manchester City. They missed out on a top-10 finish to West Brom on goals scored.
Unsurprisingly there was a celebratory atmosphere throughout the contest, with hordes of fans taking up manager Brendan Rodgers' invitation to dress up in Elvis Presley costumes.
And the Northern Irishman admitted the win, secured by Graham's sweet finish from Angel Rangel's pass four minutes from time, was the perfect way to cap the campaign.
"It has been a fairytale and what an end to the season," he said.


"The players did brilliantly, their pressing and work-rate was phenomenal.
"Everyone associates us with our passing, movement and creativity, but behind it there is a real hunger to get the ball back and the hunger was incredible today.
"We were worthy winners and it finished a brilliant season. We have kept 14 clean sheets, which is outstanding at this level and to finish having beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool in our first season gives us a big boost going forward."
The victory marked the final Swansea appearances for loan stars Steven Caulker and Gyfli Sigurdsson as they return to Tottenham and Hoffenheim respectively.
But Rodgers is hopeful of bringing the pair back to south Wales next term, having reportedly had a bid to make Sigurdsson's move permanent rejected.
"The season has finished and it's about planning going forward.
"In football terms the squad will break up as players will leave and players will come in.
"I will speak to Tottenham on Steven Caulker, he has been incredible for me this season at just 19 years of age.
"With Gylfi, we will have talks with Hoffenheim over the course of the next week or so.
"That's the challenge for me, recycling the squad, retaining that hunger and giving the players help."

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Robert Lewandowski: Watched by Sir Alex Ferguson

MAN UNITED KEEN ON LEWANDOWSKI

Robert Lewandowski's agent has confirmed Manchester United's interest in his charge.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Mike Phelan were both in Germany on Saturday to watch Borussia Dortmund's cup final triumph over Bayern Munich.
Midfielder Shinji Kagawa has long been on United's radar, but German sources claim that defender Mats Hummels and Polish striker Lewandowski were also coming under Ferguson's scrutiny.
And now Lewandowski's agent Maik Barthel has confirmed that his client has snubbed Dortmund's offer of a new contract whilst also revealing United's interest.


"I can confirm that the (new contract) offer of Borussia Dortmund is insufficient," Maik Barthel told Bild.
"I am also able to confirm an interest of Manchester United in the services of Robert Lewandowski."
News of Lewandowski shunning new terms will be a blow to Dortmund, but they have already insisted in the past couple of weeks that they would not contemplate selling the 23-year-old.
Lewandowski has emerged as Dortmund's main striker this season, hitting 22 goals for the German double winners.

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Paul Lambert: Linked with Aston Villa

NORWICH WILL FIGHT TO KEEP LAMBERT

Norwich chief executive David McNally insists the club will fight to keep manager Paul Lambert and are focused on building for next season.
The Canaries signed off from what has been an impressive return to the Barclays Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Carrow Road, which secured 12th place.
Lambert has masterminded successive promotions since taking over in August 2009 when the Norfolk club were languishing in the lower reaches of npower League One and facing an uncertain future.


However, it is the 42-year-old's achievements this season with an industrious side packed full of hardworking, unheralded names which have seen the former Celtic midfielder linked with a move away from East Anglia should a suitable vacancy occur.
Indeed, the Villa fans chanted Lambert's name on Sunday and called for the dismissal of manager Alex McLeish, whose position is under threat following a disappointing campaign.
Lambert agreed a new deal in May 2011, along with his backroom staff, and chief executive McNally doesn't want to lose the highly-rated Scot.


"We would not welcome any enquiry for our football manager or any of the club's football players," McNally told BBC Radio Norfolk.
"We will do everything we can and fight this as hard as we have ever fought."
McNally added: "If I was at another football club and I was looking for another manager he'd be top of my list.
"In any business you need to look at what might happen - the what ifs.
"But we are focused on keeping our manager and the footballers he wants to retain at the club and to bring in better footballers to complement the club.


"I want other clubs to covet our manager and to want our players, because if they do that means we're doing something right.
"It is almost obvious, isn't it, that clubs would like to have them at their football club."
Lambert accepts whatever happens in the future, Norwich's rise up through the league has been way ahead of schedule.
"It has been unbelievable what has happened here in three seasons - it is never easy to get one year of success, let alone three," he said.
"Every year has been a challenge since I have been here - getting out of League One was with how far we were behind the top two, then there was a challenge to stay in the Championship, let alone get out of it because of everything which had gone wrong, the club was at its lowest ebb.


"To do what they have done in three years has been too quick to do it, but we did and have been brilliant.
"You are always playing catch up because of what has happened - the chairman said we would have to stay in the Premier League again for another year before things start to build.
"Nobody expected this within three years. The club gave itself seven years to get in the Premier League, and that was allowing to be relegated again, so the rise has been huge."
Should Lambert remain in charge for pre-season planning, he accepts there will not be a deep transfer kitty with which to strengthen the squad.


"We can't go out and put the club it was in the position of financial trouble it was in two years ago," he said.
"As long as people realise we won't be able to do that, but that is my job, to try to get people in to try to complement things, the right type of player to try to help the team at the minute."

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Alex McLeish: Looks to be leaving Aston Villa

ALEX McLEISH: 'TIME'S UP' AT VILLA

Stan Collymore claims Alex McLeish texted him to say "time's up...hope Villa go on from strength to strength."
Reports have continued throughout the day that McLeish is set to leave the club after a meeting with owner Randy Lerner - and Collymore appears to have confirmed that is the case.
Lerner flew in from the United States to speak with McLeish along with chief executive Paul Faulkner in the aftermath of Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Norwich, which was described as "woeful" by the manager.


Sections of fans again called for the former Birmingham boss to be axed as Villa ended the campaign just two points clear of the bottom three.
McLeish has had to contend with slashing the wage bill, which he described as "astronomical", and has been deprived of several key players through injury or illness.
The likes of record signing Darren Bent, key defender Richard Dunne and skipper Stiliyan Petrov have been sidelined for lengthy spells and McLeish has had to put the accent on youth.
McLeish always stressed it would be a season of transition after replacing Gerard Houllier last summer, but it was still a surprise that Villa only made sure of survival last weekend.


Their tally of 38 points in finishing 16th is actually one less than when McLeish was relegated with Birmingham last campaign.
Villa have also encountered their worst season in their history in terms of their home record in registering just four wins.
McLeish insisted after the 2-0 defeat at Carrow Road he was still the right man for the job and was aiming to rebuild the side.
But his future now depends on whether Lerner decides it is time to search for a fourth manager in less than two years or takes into account the difficult conditions McLeish has worked under.
Martin O'Neill quit in the summer of 2010 and Houllier had to leave Villa last summer on health grounds, which led to McLeish's controversial appointment after leaving Blues.

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Paul Scholes: Not retiring, says Ferguson

PAUL SCHOLES PLAYING ON - FERGUSON

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed veteran midfielder Paul Scholes has signed a one-year contract extension with Manchester United.
After abandoning his retirement in January, there had been some speculation that the 37-year-old was deliberating whether to extend his career by an additional season.
However, speaking at Monday evening's Manchester United Player of the Year dinner, Ferguson told MUTV: "It has been done. He is staying."